Your Favourite Rules Element

[Powerdork]

In this thread: Name a rules element you adore, and the book it can be found in.

For instance, from Bloodforge Infusions: Esoteric Energies:

Psychic Speech (Su): An atstreidi’s voice has two forms: a guttural sloshing sound that can only be considered intelligible speech by the barest of margins, and a surprisingly pleasant mental noise that differs from listener to listener, but unmistakably originates from the atstreidi. An atstreidi gains a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks against creatures that are not immune to mind-affecting effects. Deaf creatures who are not immune to mind-affecting effects can hear the voice of an atstreidi as if they weren’t deaf.

[upho]

Immediately when reading the question I knew I was going to find it difficult to answer, and just thinking about it for a few moments made the number of possible candidates overwhelmingly large. But here are a few (I hope the latter two are acceptable even though I guess some people might argue those are groups of rules elements rather than specific individual rule elements):

Paired Opportunists (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/paired-opportunists-combat-teamwork/) combat teamwork feat (APG):

You know how to make an enemy pay for lax defenses.
Benefit: Whenever you are adjacent to an ally who also has this feat, you receive a +4 circumstance bonus on attacks of opportunity against creatures that you both threaten. Enemies that provoke attacks of opportunity from your ally also provoke attacks of opportunity from you so long as you threaten them (even if the situation or an ability would normally deny you the attack of opportunity). This does not allow you to take more than one attack of opportunity against a creature for a given action.Reasons: the mechanics really encourage teamwork tactics and players to build especially melee PCs to fight together, and they open up for numerous fun and powerful combos while convincingly reflecting some of the great benefits warriors may gain from knowing each other well and having fought together in numerous combats.


Fool's Errand (https://libraryofmetzofitz.fandom.com/wiki/Fool%27s_Errand) martial discipline (Divergent Paths: Fool's Errand), especially boosts such as Tornado Slam (https://libraryofmetzofitz.fandom.com/wiki/Tornado_Slam), To the Skies (https://libraryofmetzofitz.fandom.com/wiki/To_the_Skies) and Finger of God (https://libraryofmetzofitz.fandom.com/wiki/Finger_of_God):

Discipline: Fool's Errand (Boost); Level: 7
Prerequisites: Two Fool’s Errand maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature (see text)
Duration: Instantaneous

DESCRIPTION
Every sword on the battlefield is your weapon, even if your foes happen to be holding them for safekeeping. Choose one creature within your reach and make a Climb check with a DC equal to their CMD. If you succeed, you may throw the target up to 5 feet per initiator level you possess in any direction (including up). The target falls prone (taking falling damage, if applicable) in the last unoccupied space in that direction, and you may move to any other unoccupied space adjacent to where they landed. Neither your target’s movement nor your movement during this strike provokes attacks of opportunity.
If you have a free hand and there is a weapon within your reach at any point during this maneuver’s movement (treat your movement as a straight line to your new space), you may pick that weapon up. If that weapon is wielded or worn by a creature, you must succeed at a disarm attempt to grab the weapon. This disarm attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and you use a Climb check in place of your combat maneuver check. This ability does not give you any special ability to wield or carry the weapon in question if you normally couldn’t (such as if it’s improperly-sized for you or too heavy to lift).
After you move during this boost, you can make a melee attack against the creature you threw (potentially using the weapon you grabbed during the movement).Reasons: anyone who feels I have to explain why this is a favorite needs to read the above quote again. :smalltongue: Fool's Errand in general is also packed with similar truly unique and absolutely hilarious stunts in best wuxia style which really make a character feel like a larger-than-life fantasy martial arts master and action hero, while the smart mechanics somehow also manage to make the discipline one of the most balanced in PoW. In short, it's a great kung fu-inspired work of the finest martial RPG art, leagues ahead of the overly damage focused and poorly balanced unarmed/close weapon kung fu of the Broken Blade (https://libraryofmetzofitz.fandom.com/wiki/Broken_Blade) discipline. I think Finger of God above is a great example of the discipline's signature awesome bombastic over-the-top style (yeah, that's a swift action!) and illustrates why its mere existence makes me happy, even though I'm otherwise not much into the genres it's based on.


The summoner's eidolon (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/summoner/eidolons) (APG), more specifically its "create your own unique evolving monster best friend"-nature:

Points from this pool can be spent on a wide variety of modifications and upgrades that add new abilities, attacks, and powers to the eidolon. Whenever the summoner gains a level, the number in this pool increases and the summoner can spend these points to change the abilities of the eidolon. These choices are not set. The summoner can change them whenever he gains a level (and through the transmogrify (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/t/transmogrify) spell).Reasons: while the the summoner class' summon monster SLA, spell list and some of the eidolon's evolutions are infamously poorly balanced, the evolving eidolon design concept itself is just brilliant IMO. I don't believe any other class allows for choosing between such a great number of truly unique and meaningful options, at least not in a manner as refreshingly free of restrictions limiting the range of possible flavors to those the designer happened to imagine and find appropriate (in sharp contrast to the Unchained version's many restrictions based on flavor). The eidolon makes for the ultimate special snowflake in PF, and I simply love special snowflakes!

[Psyren]

Yeah this one is really broad. It's like walking up to someone and asking them "tell me your favorite joke." A few restrictions might actually help with getting answers, instead of having the person in front of you freeze for several minutes :smalltongue:

Rather than try to pick my favorite, I'll just list a couple I really like. The Qinggong/Unchained Monk's ki powers are big ones for me, letting them swap out their more lackluster base abilities/sacred cows like Slow Fall and Tongue of the Sun and Moon for far more badass abilities like Cold Ice Strike and Shadow Walk. I'm also a fan of the uMonk's Style Strikes, which let you add interesting effects to one or more of their flurry bonus attacks.

[martixy]

I particularly like the mechanics of psionics. With the power points and augmentation.

[upho]

Yeah this one is really broad. It's like walking up to someone and asking them "tell me your favorite joke." A few restrictions might actually help with getting answers, instead of having the person in front of you freeze for several minutes :smalltongue:That's an uncannily accurate description of my reaction to this question. Wait...! Have you hacked my webcam again, Psyren? :smalleek:

@Metool: I agree with Psyren that adding a few restrictions might be a good idea.


Rather than try to pick my favorite, I'll just list a couple I really like. The Qinggong/Unchained Monk's ki powers are big ones for me, letting them swap out their more lackluster base abilities/sacred cows like Slow Fall and Tongue of the Sun and Moon for far more badass abilities like Cold Ice Strike and Shadow Walk.I must say I really like these as well, and appreciated that the lists were expanded in the Martial Arts Handbook. My only (slight) gripe with the Quinggong options is that they weren't simply made a part of the vanilla class instead (similar to the fighter's AT options), like they were for the unchained monk.

And of course, the Quinggong + Monk of the Silver Fist (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/monk/archetypes/dreamscarred-press-monk-archetypes/monk-of-the-silver-fist-monk-archetype/) combo with a focus on Fool's Errand maneuvers comes with quite impressive mechanical potential and positively drenched in kung fu flavor!


I'm also a fan of the uMonk's Style Strikes, which let you add interesting effects to one or more of their flurry bonus attacks.I think it's great and kinda telling that they added not just interesting options but also such a distinct wushu flavor, which the original bland FoB sorely lacked IMO. Not to mention their less widely known but even more awesome ability to give fish and even snakes feet and legs to kick major butt with! :smallbiggrin:

[Powerdork]

Fine, here is the guidance: Your favourite feat (Up the Walls, Ultimate Psionics; being able to scale buildings with basic movement is pretty cash), your favourite race ability, your favourite class feature (such as a spell, talent, or maneuver), your favourite use of a skill (Acrobatics to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity as you leave a threatened square, for example), your favourite ability score (Charisma as used to substitute for Constitution by the undead), your favourite narrow or broad mechanical interaction (such as magic weapons with a high enough enhancement bonus being able to punch through damage reduction, or archetypes replacing class features)...
Something that's your favourite.

Here's my favourite maneuver (from Path of War: Expanded (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/177763/Path-of-War-Expanded)), because I love social abilities that see use in fights. Fool's Errand (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/208645/Divergent-Paths-Fools-Errand) is also pretty dope, though.


IMMORTAL TRUTHS OF THE SLEEPING GODDESS
Discipline: Sleeping Goddess (Strike) [mind-affecting]
Level: 9
Prerequisites: Four Sleeping Goddess maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: Melee or ranged attack
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Standing at the pinnacle of the Sleeping Goddess discipline’s students, you have the ability to share your beliefs in a way that no others can. By making contact with your opponent’s mind and soul, you can open a dialogue, communicating your respective ideals instantaneously and debating their merits.
Make an attack. If it hits, it deals an additional 10d6 points of damage. If this damage would reduce the target to 0 or fewer hit points, you can attempt to convert them to your way of thinking, clashing beliefs in a brief moment of spiritual contact. If you do, you and the target make an opposed ability check, with you using your initiation modifier and the target using its Charisma modifier. If the target succeeds, they take damage as normal, potentially killing them or knocking them unconscious. If you succeed, the target is instead reduced to 1 hit point, and their attitude towards you and your allies changes to helpful. This is not a compulsion, nor is it forcing the target to follow your orders, but rather the result of a spiritual conversation that took place in the instant of the strike. The target now understands your beliefs and ideals and either believes in them as well or respects your belief enough to be unwilling to oppose you. Regardless of whether or not the target succeeds on their check, you gain a deep understanding of their own beliefs and ideals.
While you have this maneuver readied and unexpended, you automatically know the current hit point total of each creature within your melee reach.
Augment: You can spend a maximum number of power points augmenting a maneuver equal to one plus one additional power point for every four initiator levels you possess. You can augment this maneuver in one or more of the following ways:
• For every power point you spend, this strike deals an additional 1d6 points of damage. For every 2d6 you increase the damage by, you gain a +1 bonus on your ability check.
• If you expend your psionic focus while initiating this strike, you ignore any immunity to mind-affecting effects the target possesses.

[Psyren]

As before, I don't have a favorite feat - so many of them have different purposes or work extremely well for specific builds but not others, so that's still a bit too broad. So I'll just post a few more things I really like.

One of my favorite things that can be done with feats is patch the existing game. A great example of this is the Dirty Fighting feat - without needing to go through the costly process of issuing errata for the CRB to change Combat Expertise, they were able to go around this restriction in order to enable a whole bevy of low-Int street fighter concepts that can use maneuvers that were previously out of reach.


I don't have a favorite racial either. Some are more unique than others, like Samsaran's Mystic Past Life, but I usually pick a race by ability score adjustments first and racials/alternate racials second.

My favorite ability score is the one I need most for my build :smalltongue:

[GrayDeath]

Fire.






No, really. Every mechnaic a Player cites at you can be soolved by setting fire to the offending book.